Cheese · Santorini
Also labelled Χλωρό Σαντορίνης
A fresh sheep and goat's milk cheese from Santorini.
Chloro, from the Greek word for fresh, is a soft sheep or goat cheese of Santorini. The Greek cheese reference Cheese Lovers says it is made on the island from sheep or goat milk in winter and spring, when there is plenty of grass, and is usually eaten fresh. It can instead be kept in brine until it hardens, and is then grated in cooking. The travel guide Greece Insiders calls chlorotyri a soft, tangy goat cheese made in small quantities and lists a Greek salad topped with it instead of feta among Santorini's traditional dishes.
Made in: Santorini
Cheese Lovers says fresh chloro is soft and creamy with a slightly salty, slightly sour taste and is very often scented with coriander. Once it has hardened in brine it is used grated in cooking. Greece Insiders calls the cheese soft and tangy.
Wine and cheese
Young chloro is a fresh, soft and mildly salty cheese, often scented with coriander. A dry Santorini Assyrtiko of medium body has the high acidity to keep the creamy paste lively and to rinse the salt between bites.
Chloro is a soft, creamy, mildly salty white cheese, often scented with coriander. A dry, unoaked Aidani, floral and pear-scented with gentle acidity, sits beside its fresh, slightly sour paste without overpowering it.
The grapes behind these winesAssyrtikoAidani
Guided tastings by appointment in an organic cave winery in Pyrgos. The 4 and 6 wine tastings come with Naxos goat cheese and bread-rusks; the 12 wine tasting with Aegean island cheeses. Tuesday to Saturday.
A walk on the vineyard soil, then six wines from Santorini's indigenous grapes tasted with a platter of selected cheeses, cold cuts and local bites, guided by the winery's wine educator. By appointment.
Four premium Assyrtiko wines tasted under a pergola by the beach, with a complimentary plate of traditional Greek cheeses. The winery is open daily 12:00 to 20:00 from 29 April to 31 October.
On the menu at Aroma Avlis, the restaurant at Artemis Karamolegos Winery: a cheese plateau of arseniko from Naxos, Cretan graviera, geremezi, San Michali and melichloro, and a kopanisti spread.
Wine tasting on the main hall terrace of the Megalochori winery, with light snacks such as cheese platters available alongside. The cheeses are not named.
Winery restaurant in Fira Kontochori serving a la carte, a degustation menu, or a glass of Anhydrous wine with a platter of Greek cheeses.
Cheese Lovers describes it as a Santorini cheese made from sheep or goat milk in winter and spring, soft and creamy when fresh, slightly salty and sour, and often flavoured with coriander.
No. Chloro has no entry in the EU's eAmbrosia register of protected food names; it is a traditional local cheese of the island.
Fresh, or grated once hardened in brine. Greece Insiders lists a Greek salad topped with chlorotyri instead of feta among Santorini's traditional dishes.
Same cheeseboard
Plan the trip
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
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Sources: web.archive.org, greeceinsiders.travel. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.
